I'm an associate editor at Forbes, part of the team responsible for our signature issues: The Forbes 400, Global Billionaires and America's Richest Families. As a writer, I cover these wealthy business builders as well as other entrepreneurs. Before Forbes, I also reported on entrepreneurs for Inc. magazine, and attended Syracuse University's S.I. Newhouse School of Public Communications.

Biden's Universal Gun Background Checks: A Headache, But Nothing More

President Obama walking with Vice President Joe Biden in The White House (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

At the center of President Obama’s new firearm legislation: background checks with any purchase.

Vice President Joe Biden, who is hosting a week-long summit on guns and violence at the White House, has been convinced that “universal background checks” are a necessity to prevent weapons from falling into the wrong hands, multiple news outlets report. The vice president is expected to suggest a mix of measures including an assault weapon ban and restriction on magazine size that Obama can authorize through executive orders and new legislation.

Today, background checks do not occur every time a weapon is sold. Private sales by unlicensed dealers at gun shows, for example, go unaccounted, as would a permit-carrying American’s purchase of a additional firearms.

Universal background checks would surely draw strong criticism from the NRA and other guns-rights advocates. It could dent the business of guns if the restrictions are harsh enough to dissuade gun buyers to purchase weapons. Though, in all reality, if you felt strongly enough about the Second Amendment, a background check would probably not deter you. The background checks would, presumably, go a considerable way on making sure weapons can’t be sold to the mentally ill or convicted criminals. New laws on assault weapons—the semi-automatic firearms that anti-violence advocates deplore—and on magazine-size would be more harmful to the gun industry.

Such a ban would mean a direct hit on the Freedom Group, the private equity-backed gunmaker that made the Bushmaster AR-15 rifle discovered at the Newtown, Conn., massacre. Freedom Group is America’s largest rifle manufacturer. Smith and Wesson and Sturm, Ruger would also be affected to a lesser degree because a majority of their business comes from pistols. Of course, any sort of universal background checks would require the cooperation of gun retailers like Dick’s Sporting Goods, Cabela’s and Wal-Mart, which is the nation’s largest seller of munitions.

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I feel like there is an overabundance of ignorance when it comes to guns. I can’t tell you how often I’ve heard that we should have limits on magazine size. I can tell you from a personal/professional point of view that all you have to do is buy more magazines and become proficient in ejecting and loading a new magazine; it can take mere seconds. Putting restrictions on gun magazines is a way to placate anti-gun proponents. The same goes for most of the lame proposals they are coming up with. I think it is important for the policy makers to stop relying on statistics and do a little research. It would help if some of that research came from people who enjoy the sporting use of firearms (other than lobby groups). I come from a strong familial gun culture. If we aren’t hunting with them, we are going to the range to see who can get the best groupings. All of the restrictions placed on guns the last time just created work-arounds of the law. Guns were modified (by manufacturers) to meet the restrictions but the guns still had the same potential. One thing that it did is drive up the prices on most guns and ammunition which made a lot of money for a lot of companies. I’d like to replace a barrel on one of my hunting rifles but because of all this stuff, it is on permanent back order.

“Registration” is very non-specific, so is “background check.” How intrusive does it have to be to satisfy the government? A “comprehensive background check” would not have helped to avoid any of the mass shootings. Nothing short of personal interviews of family & friends, similar to a security check (i.e., to achieve a “top secret” clearance) may have found someone willing to say the perps were looney and aggressive. So what is this? a new “jobs program” for the FBI or Homeland Security? More government expansion? a new Czar?

Further registration probably won’t fly either. Check out hicago Mayor Jane Byrne’s “registration” effort. After flim-flamming the citizens of Chicago (“What’s the big deal with registration? How can that hurt?) and passing registration ordinances, she immediately froze all new registrations, and forced annual renewal and “registration fee.” This was done decades ago, but was only recently overturned by the Supreme Court.

The folks driving this effort want to ban everything firearm related. I wouldn’t be surprised if they didn’t try eminent domain to do confiscation. A little Executive Order here & there and away they go … so they think.

It might also be worthwhile to check out the politicians blind trust to see how invested they are in the firearm industry, hardware and ammunition. I doesn’t take rocket scientists to see that every time they twitch in the “gun control” direction, the sales climb dramatically (guns, accessories, ammo, everything) and stock prices for Ruger (RGR) and Smith & Wesson (SWHC), and the ammo manufacturers, like Olen (OLN – owner of Winchester) go through the roof.

Politicians (primarily the Democrats / Progressives) have shown an eager willingness to lie and “cheat” in any way possible to achieve their goals. You’d have to be a total idiot to believe anything they have to say (with apologies to total idiots everywhere, I didn’t mean to degrade your group by associating them with politicians)

How many die by the hand of a love one? How many die in vehicle accidents or by being misdiagnose? How many die by diseases, infections or aids? How many die by pollution in water or air? How many die by war or suicide? How many die by hunger? And the list goes on!! If you have common sense then you know the answer is difficult, but we all know it’s many, many millions of children have die. You all are responsible, how many of you knew a child was hungry but turn away or didn’t lift a figure to go out your way because you knew what you would find. How many taken a chance and driven under the influence? How many are infected and given it to a child? How many sit stuffing themselves while children die because of lack of money for medication or medical needs? The most common denominator here is that when you look at the facts and do the math, the equation always sums up “PEOPLE”. Yes people are responsible for the actions they do, not the cars, not the drugs, not the war, not knives, guns, nor money. It’s the price to pay for being free-to-do, and the more we populate the more idiots you’ll find. The secret here! To find the truth, the worst hypocritical offenders are the one that jump into action after the fact (Reactive People), waging the dogs tail, just look at the news headline and see who’s talking about children die by gun violence. “I guarantee that they fit into these categories” I know I do, but I wish it wasn’t the truth but and not afraid to omit it!

Yes the most common saying is that a guns is easier to kill, but how is easy is to get a gun, most people don’t own. I agree that making it harder to get a gun make sense, or heavy screening for criminals and mental. I read an article last year where a Chinese man went into a pre-school and started his ninja knife wheeling slashing rampage. He managed to cut almost 30 children and none die, but we all know Chinese have small knives so he didn’t kill any. If this was in the USA, you know all 30 and more would have died. So then what, we take away the knives? If someone would had made cocktails bombs and tossed into the class rooms, I’m very sure probably hundreds would have died. So do we ban gasoline and glass bottles? You’re a “FOOL” to believe that take guns away would make it safe. So they say USA has the highest rate for gun crimes, but did anyone mention that it is also the safest and most powerful country in the world for decades and sought by many to come live here. We didn’t get here by striking STICKS-AND-STONES! I would rather have today’s USA gun violence over a country not being free, communist, poor, slavery, revisionist, etc. GUNS MADE USA WHAT IT IS TODAY, SO STAND-UP BE PROUD AND LOOK TO THE HEAVENS, BUT NEVER FORGET THOSE WHO DIE!

So getting a background check isn’t for the intent of stopping me from traveling, correct? As in, if I wanted to go from Port Richey down to Austin, I could still do that if they were conducting this check, right?